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LINK … GAME STORY: No. 14 Westbrook rallies from 21 down to edge Electra, advance to II-1A tourney
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LINK … GAME STORY: Solid defense lifts Cisco past Seymour in regional quarterfinal round
HASKELL — Trailing No. 24 Electra by 21 points on a pair of occasions in the second quarter, the 14th-ranked Westbrook Wildcats had every reason to panic Saturday at the Haskell High School gym.
The Wildcats scored just one point through the first eight minutes of the Region I-3A quarterfinal matchup and found themselves down 25-4 nearing the midway point of the second quarter.
But despite the seemingly dire circumstances, coach Jake Diggs’ squad did not panic. Instead, it chipped away at the deficit to pull within eight points at halftime before completing the improbable comeback with a big fourth-quarter rally to defeat the Tigers 51-49 and earn their first trip to the regional tournament since 2001.
ANSON — The Cisco Loboes have been showing more zone looks defensively since Christmas and in Saturday’s Region II-2A quarterfinal with Seymour, it paid off with a dominating 56-36 win at Anson High School.
Layne Edgar poured in 19 points and Stephen Bird added 16 more to lift Cisco (18-3) which will face Bogata Rivercrest in the regional semifinals at a site and time to be determined.
Cisco never trailed after opening the game with a 7-0 run, limiting Seymour to single-digit scoring in the first, second and third quarters. Seymour’s Grant Wright was the lone Panther to deliver significant offensive punch, leading SHS with 14 points. Teagan McMorris and Joe Trepanier added six each.
“We played excellent defense,” Cisco coach Kevin Hearne said. “All the film we had on Seymour was mainly against man-to-man and (Wright) can really take over games.
“So we thought the zone would kind of slow him down as far as penetrating. They have some good shooters, but we’ve played teams with good shooters before and we can cover out on them. And that was the key — the old basic 2-3 zone came in big for us today.”
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LINK … GAME STORY: No. 15 Eula runs away from Knox City, earns another trip to region tourney
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LINK … GAME STORY: Shallowater defense shuts down Jim Ned in 55-34 win
ANSON — A fast start and stifling defensive performance proved a winning formula for the Eula boys basketball team Friday as the No. 15 Pirates pulled away from Knox City for a 57-33 win in a Region II-1A quarterfinal matchup at the Anson High School gym.
Eula (18-9) raced out to a 14-6 lead after a quarter and was never threatened after in advancing to the regional tournament for the fifth consecutive year.
CHILDRESS — The Jim Ned girls fully understood the challenge they faced in Friday’s Region I-3A semfinal with defending state champion Shallowater. But the Lady Indians still arrived at Childress High School with every intention of avenging last season’s 47-40 loss in the semis to the Fillies.
Nothing, however, could fully prepare the Lady Indians for the combination of defensive pressure and long-range sharpshooting Shallowater hit them with in a 55-34 SHS win.
Jenna Willer, Bree Brattain and Taylor Moravich scored 12, 11 and 10 points respectively to lead Shallowater (27-0), which extended its winning streak to 36 straight games dating back to last season.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Hermleigh girls rally past Eula in Hopper’s return to Wylie
In the early 2010s, Hermleigh girls basketball coach Duane Hopper earned his stripes playing for the Wylie boys basketball team under coaches Russell Perkins and Gregg Ruffin.
Thursday night saw Hopper make his return to Bulldog Gym as the Lady Cardinals overcame an early deficit and withstood a fourth quarter rally by Eula to earn a 44-41 win and earn their fourth straight berth in the Region II-1A semifinals, all of which have come in Hopper’s four seasons on the bench.
With his history as a Bulldog, Hopper knew where his 103rd career win as a coach ranked in his memories of Bulldog Gym.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Bryon Nelson pulls away in second half to down Eagles 64-48 in area round
ALEDO — For a half Tuesday, the Abilene High boys basketball team gave District 4-6A champion Trophy Club Byron Nelson all it could handle in a Region I-6A area-round matchup at the Aledo High School gymnasium. But the Bobcats found their offensive footing in the final two quarters to pull away for a 64-48 win.
AHS, which saw its season end at 18-8, led 9-7 after one quarter and took a 22-21 lead into halftime. But Nelson snatched the momentum with a 19-9 run through the third quarter, before dropping 24 points in the fourth to seal the victory.
BROWNWOOD — Through the first two rounds of the Class 3A postseason, the Dublin Lions have had more thrilling moments than some teams experience in an entire season.
After edging Holliday 85-82 in overtime in the bi-district round, the Lions rallied in the fourth quarter for a 57-56 win over Wall on Wednesday night in a Region I-3A area round matchup at the Brownwood Coliseum.
Senior Daniel Escobar took an inbounds pass from midcourt and, after a Wall defender jumped too soon trying to contest the shot, hit a jumper from just a couple of feet to send the Lions faithful into a frenzy.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Cisco stuns heavily favored Haskell, advances to regional semfinals
LINK…CAPITAL FARM CREDIT WEDNESDAY NIGHT PODCAST: Cisco’s Kevin Hearne joins the show
THIS WEEK: Cisco boys coach Kevin Hearne visits with Evan Ren and Dan Youngblood.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Moudy’s 30-point night fuels No. 2 Brock past Jim Ned
BRECKENRIDGE — Brock senior Quinn Moudy got hot and stayed that way most of the night Tuesday, dropping 30 points on Jim Ned to fuel the No. 2 Eagles to a 47-29 area-round win over the Indians at the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center.
After scoring just three points in the opening quarter, Moudy went off for 15 in the second, helping BHS turn a tight game through the first 12 minutes into a 29-14 lead by the halftime break.
The Eagles (26-2) closed the opening half on a 12-0 run to swing the momentum in their favor for the remainder of the contest.
TUSCOLA — Having already suffered a pair of sound defeats (65-46 and 59-49) at the hands of Haskell in district play, the Cisco girls basketball team approached Tuesday’s regional quarterfinal with the Maidens without a hint of pressure.
All the stress, as it turned out, was on heavily favored Haskell, which suffered one of its worst shooting nights of the year in a stunning 44-41 upset loss to Cisco at Bill Thornton Arena.
Braley Brunson scored 12 points and Justice Fox added 10 more to lead the unranked Lady Loboes (17-8), who gradually build a 17-point lead by the end of the third quarter before absorbing a furious Haskell rally in the fourth.
No. 13 Haskell closed its season at 20-5, led by Delaney Hanson’s game-high 22 points. Savannah Camancho added seven more for the Maidens, which saw multiple shots from point-blank range fail to find the target with the help of some interior defense by the Lady Loboes.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Eighth-ranked May girls pull away in second half, top No. 15 Munday
FORT STOCKTON — The Abilene High boys basketball team passed its first postseason test with flying colors Monday, blasting El Paso Eastwood 55-22 in its playoff opener to earn an area-round matchup with Trophy Club Nelson.
The Eagles, who scored the game’s first 11 points, led 15-4 by the end of the first quarter and increased their advantage to 29-7 by halftime to end the competitive phase of the game before the start of the second half.
BRECKENRIDGE — Trailing 12-8 after a quarter on Monday, the eighth-ranked May Lady Tigers outscored No. 15 Munday 32-20 the rest of the way to down the Mogulettes 40-32 in a Region II-1A area-round clash at the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center.
After closing the first half on a nice run to go to halftime up 19-18, May scored the first six points of the third quarter to grab the momentum for good.
The Lady Tigers (22-3) pulled ahead by as many as nine points (36-27) early in the fourth quarter and held off Munday the rest of the way to earn a region quarterfinals matchup with No. 13 Westbrook at a time, date and location to be determined.
With our Capital Farm Credit-Big Country Preps Player of the Week shut down due to weather last week, we have extended our list of eligible nominees back two weeks to recognize the top performances over the past 14 days.
As a result, Westbrook’s Kenan Morris tops our list and takes this week’s award.
Morris, who dropped in 18 points in a district finale against Ira, lifted the Wildcats to their 22nd straight league win in the process. A few days later, he poured in 22 points to bo with eight boards and three assists in a warmup game with No. 17 Lingleville.
Continue reading “CAPITAL FARM CREDIT/BCP PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Morris takes this week’s award”
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LINK … GAME STORY: Cisco boys run away from Quanah for 72-52 bi-district win
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LINK … GAME STORY: Jim Ned clamps down defensively to eliminate Holliday
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LINK … GAME STORY: Slow start dooms Santo in loss to Cisco
STAMFORD — If the Cisco boys basketball team felt any pressure Saturday — either from the start of its playoff run or from Quanah’s aggressive defense — it didn’t show it in a dominant 72-52 bi-district win over the Indians.
Coming off an eight-day layoff since its district finale against Anson, the Loboes (16-3) used a 15-6 second-quarter run to build a double-digit halftime lead and cruised from there to a comfortable victory in its playoff opener.
With the win, which capped a wild week of weather-related postponements, coach Kevin Hearne’s squad earned an area-round date with Poolville (17-8) next week at a time, date and location to be determined.
BRECKENRIDGE — Entering Saturday’s 3A area round game with Holliday as a heavy favorite, the Jim Ned Lady Indians and their fans weren’t expecting a major scare from HHS.
Yet that’s exactly what they received for the better part of two quarters at the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center, before a dominating defensive effort helped Jim Ned pull away for a 48-32 win.
Lexi Wishert and Alexis Espinsosa tallied 11 and 10 points respectively to lead Jim Ned (26-2), which advances to face Bowie at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in Breckenridge.
BRECKENRIDGE — After several days without power and water in Santo, the SHS girls basketball team was happy to simply take the floor in Saturday’s weather-delayed area round game with Cisco.
The problem was, the Lady Wildcats’ had been unable to practice throughout most of this week’s deep freeze and it showed in a season-ending 45-27 loss at the Breckenridge Fine Arts Center.
Justice Fox scored 12 points and Brooklyn Hurtado added nine more to lift Cisco (15-8), which advances to face area power Haskell on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Jim Ned High School.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Ballinger boys find stride in fourth quarter, down Crane for bi-district win
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LINK … GAME STORY: Resilient Coahoma girls rally past Ballinger for bi-district win
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LINK … GAME STORY: Eula goes to the charity stripe to eliminate Benjamin
STERLING CITY — Offense didn’t come easy for the Ballinger boys basketball team for most of its Region I-3A bi-district game against Crane on Friday. But the Bearcats found their rhythm when they needed to most, outscoring the Golden Cranes 15-7 over the final eight minutes to rally for a 39-32 win at the Sterling City gym.
Ballinger, which trailed 16-15 at halftime and 25-24 after three quarters, needed 2½ minutes to score its first points of the fourth quarter. But some excellent defense kept the deficit at one until that point, and a Jonathan Delgado 3-pointer kicked off a 12-0 run that gave coach Jeff Holland’s squad a commanding 36-25 lead with just under three minutes remaining.
Crane outscored BHS 7-3 the rest of the way, but it was of little consequence as the Bearcats advanced to the area round, where they’ll face off with the winner of No. 3 Peaster and Bowie next week.
STERLING CITY — The Coahoma girls basketball team withstood a couple of Ballinger runs before delivering their own late in the fourth quarter Friday to pull out a 51-47 win in a Region I-3A bi-district matchup at the Sterling City gym.
The Bulldogettes, who trailed at the end of each of the first three quarters, outscored the Ladycats 19-13 in the final period, using a late 9-0 surge to turn a 42-40 deficit at the 3:59 mark into a seven-point lead with 1:47 to play.
From there, Coahoma (17-6) was able to hold off Ballinger to advance to the area round, where it will face No. 16 Peaster next week at a time, date and location to be determined.
HASKELL — A quick glance at the stat sheet tells the story of Friday’s Class 1A girls area round matchup between Eula and Benjamin, with the free-throw numbers standing out like the proverbial sore thumb.
Presley Vernson scored 13 points while Carter Gomez added eight more to lead Eula to a 39-30 win, with a final free-throw edge of 14-2 by game’s end.
Eula (19-6) will now advance to face either Hermleigh, Cross Plains or Aspermont at a time to be determined.
Benjamin closed its season a 14-7, led by 10 points from Valeria Zavala and seven from Braleigh Blanchette.
THIS WEEK: Hermleigh girls coach Duane Hopper visits with Evan Ren and Dan Youngblood.
Due to extensive event postponements and school cancellations caused by winter weather in the Big Country and throughout the state of Texas, nominations for this week’s Capital Farm Credit Big Country Preps Player of the Week were more limited than usual.
So as not to leave out deserving kids, we’ve decided to hold off on this week’s honor and celebrate the top performances from Feb. 7-20 next week.
As always, thanks for reading.
Here are the updated Big Country boys basketball playoff pairings, results:
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LINK … GAME STORY: Stamford girls eliminate Windthorst to advance to area round
BRECKENRIDGE — Even while holding a late lead in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s 2A bi-district matchup with Windthorst, Stamford girls basketball coach Missy Dutchover remained in attack mode.
She never asked her Lady Bulldogs to slow tempo in order to protect the lead. If the shot was there, Stamford continued to fire away.
The approach paid off with a 52-40 win at the Breckenridge ISD Fine Arts Center, with Tylee Joe Bevel leading the way with a game-high 19 points for SHS (16-6). Laylonna Applin added 10 points and Citlaly Gutierrez finished with seven to help lift the Lady Bulldogs, who will advance to face the Hico-Hamilton winner in the area round.
LUBBOCK — The Wylie girls basketball team rallied from 15 down in the second half to take a lead late in the fourth quarter of its Region I-5A bi-district matchup with Amarillo Tascosa on Thursday, but the Lady Bulldogs couldn’t close out the Lady Rebels in a 72-69 loss at Lubbock Christian High School.
Wylie, which fell behind 8-0 to start the game, was forced to play catch-up for most of it. After pulling within 18-14 to end the first quarter, the Lady Bulldogs went to halftime down 37-31, before a slow start to the second half saw the deficit balloon to a game-high 15 points.
Coach Amy Powell’s squad pulled within 51-44 to start the final period and overcame an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to take a one-point lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game. But Tascosa was able to answer the Wylie run and seal the win from the free-throw line, where the Lady Rebels went 28 of 33 for the game.
Sweetwater is in the market for a new athletic director and head football coach now that Ben McGehee is taking over the program at Class 5A Division I Magnolia West.
McGehee finished with a 23-21 mark in four seasons leading the Mustangs. Sweetwater made the playoffs on three occasions, bowing out to Celina 37-22 in the area round to cap off an 8-2 mark in 2020.
McGehee, who couldn’t be reached for comment, took over the Mustangs’ program a couple months after Shane Mobley led Sweetwater to the 2016 Class 4A Division II title game. Sweetwater compiled a 10-3 record in his first season, then followed that up with 1-9 and 4-7 marks.
Continue reading “McGehee to leave Sweetwater for Magnolia West”
THIS WEEK: Comanche girls coach Diana Salinas visits with Evan Ren and Dan Youngblood.
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LINK … GAME STORY: Cougars blitz Lubbock Cooper to claim share of District 4-5A title
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LINK … GAME STORY: Brownwood rally falls short in loss to Glen Rose
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LINK … GAME STORY: Wylie boys routed by Monterey on Senior Night
The Cooper boys basketball team jumped on Lubbock Cooper early and answered the Pirates’ only significant run of the game to earn a 58-46 win and claim at least a share of its first district title since 1996 on Tuesday at Cougar Gym.
Entering the night tied with Lubbock Cooper atop the District 4-5A standings, the Cougars (16-6 overall, 7-2 in district) raced out to a 21-13 lead after a quarter and expanded it to 38-24 by halftime.
After increasing its advantage to 16 points with a bucket early in the third quarter, CHS saw a 10-0 Pirate run trim its lead to 40-34. But the Coogs pushed back ahead by double digits by the end of the period and held on from there for a big home victory.
BROWNWOOD — For three full quarters, visiting Glen Rose held Brownwood in a defensive vice grip in Tuesday’s District 6-4A matchup. That is, until the Lions switched to full-court defensive pressure down the stretch to put a late scare into the Tigers.
Leading 32-14 after shutting Brownwood out in the third quarter, Glen Rose saw its lead cut to as little as six in the final minutes of a 43-34 win at BHS.
Caden Schinagel scored 12 points and Caden Smith dropped in 10 more to pace Glen Rose (23-2, 7-0), which locked up the district title with the win.
Continue reading “GAME STORY: Late Brownwood rally falls short as Glen Rose locks up district title”